Sri Chinmoy Poetry

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Page 137

The careful balancing of each line leads us easily from one idea to another so that they are paired in our understanding. Thus, "nest" is readily transformed into "rest" and this, in turn, becomes submerged in "goal." The three nouns blend into one composite image of man's life in God. Like many of Sri Chinmoy's miniature songs of bliss, this poem succeeds through the transparency and radiance of its language, the simplicity of the poet's expression and the sublime nature of his thought.
 
From this brief glance at the various ways in which Sri Chinmoy employs the symbol of the bird, several indications emerge: the first, most obviously, is that the poet perceives a great web of analogies existing between the outer nature and man's inner nature which impels him to draw parallels between sensory experiences and spiritual experiences, between physical processes and spiritual processes. A second aspect of this technique of eliciting correspondences from nature is that the understanding it imparts to the reader is intensive rather than extensive the symbol of the bird may deepen our wisdom but it does not increase our knowledge. This is emphasised by the fact that for Sri Chinmoy the word "bird" itself is often sufficient to carry the full weight of his meaning. He does not use the symbol in such a way as to force it on our senses, but to kindle our imagination and our inspiration. Sri Chinmoy never becomes absorbed in the bird of his contemplation. Indeed, he would seem to view it with his senses in abeyance, with his sympathetic inner vision rather than his outer perceptual faculties. Consequently, there is a feeling of going beyond the bird and penetrating beneath its surface appearance to its essence. Despite being only a single fact in nature, there is a powerful sense that the bird is representative of nature as a whole, that nature itself has become the symbol which the poet is using to certify the spiritual. This great role of nature is further defined by Emerson:


Man is fallen; nature is erect, and serves as a differential thermometer, detecting the presence or absence of the divine sentiment in man. [15]


Perennial symbols and typical features serve Sri Chinmoy best in translating this function into poetic terms.


 

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